The Authoritative Source for Cedar Rapids Professional Baseball

Major League Baseball released the rosters for the 83rd annual MLB All-Star game today. Cedar Rapids Kernels alumni Mike Napoli (2001-02), Mike Trout (2009-10) and Mark Trumbo (2001-02) have been selected to the American League squad with Napoli getting the start behind the plate. The trio of Kernels alum bring the total number of MLB All-Star selections made by Cedar Rapids professi0nal baseball alumni to 85. 33 different Cedar Rapids professional baseball alumni have been selected to the All-Star game rosters. This is the fifth time there has been three Cedar Rapids professional baseball alumni players selected to the same All-Star game (2012, 2007, 1991, 1984 and 1966). We have never had more than three appear in the same season. Lou Boudreau was our first All-Star and made six straight All-Star teams between 1940-45, the longest such streak by a Cedar Rapids professional baseball alumni.

Here is the full list of Cedar Rapids professional baseball alumni who have been selected to the All-Star game rosters. The year following their name designates their season or seasons they played in Cedar Rapids.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels closed out the first half with a four game winning streak. Three Kernels were selected to attend the 2012 Midwest League All-Star game that will be held tonight at Kane County. Kaleb Cowart, Ty Kelley and Stephen Tromblee will represent the West squad and the Kernels at the event. As our other players get a few days off, I will be writing / transcribing a few All-Star stories from our past.

My fourth All-Star installment in the series is a list of every player who has been selected to represent Cedar Rapids at the summer All-Star game. I am still working on the data from 1985-87. Apologies to the Cedar Rapids Reds fans for the data gap. Some reason the Cedar Rapids Gazette archives online are unavailable between 1985 and 1988. I was able to fill some of the gaps utilizing MWLGuide.com and our older programs in the Kernels Hall of Fame Collection. If anyone has the all-star rosters from 1985-87, I would appreciate updated info. Here is my best effort up to this point. 176 Midwest League All-Star selections and counting. Jeff Jones leads the way with three appearances (1980-82). Enjoy the game tonight.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels closed out the first half with a four game winning streak. Three Kernels were selected to attend the 2012 Midwest League All-Star game that will be held tonight at Kane County. Kaleb Cowart, Ty Kelley and Stephen Tromblee will represent the West squad and the Kernels at the event. As our other players get a few days off, I will be writing / transcribing a few All-Star stories from our past.

Our third All-Star installment in the series is about the first Midwest League All-Star game. The 1964 Midwest League All-Star game was held on Sunday, June 28, 1964. Davenport played host to the game. The Cedar Rapids Red Raiders had four players selected to represent the 1964 Midwest League North All-Stars squad. Dick Rowe started in center field and Link Curtis, the 1963 MWL HR Champ, was slated to start as well but missed his ride to the game and was not at the event. Pitchers Bill Stinchcomb and Jim Garbeff each earned a roster spot and Red Raiders manager Rollie Hemsley was on hand to help coach the North squad.

The North jumped out to a 3-0 lead as Waterloo’s Bob Montgomery hit a two-run HR in the second and added a RBI double in the third, but the North could not hold on as the South rallied to win the game 6-3 with a four run barrage in the bottom of the fifth. Bill Stinchcomb worked 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and Rick Rowe was 0-4 at the plate. Check out the Cedar Rapids Gazette for the explanation Curtis gave for missing the event.

Here is the coverage from the June 29, 1964 edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette written by John Berry.

Link-Less North Loses 6-3

One of the links was missing in the Northern All-Stars’ attack here Sunday night as the South team, composed of players from Quad Cities, Burlington, Clinton, Decatur and Quincy, posted a 6-3 victory in the first Midwest League All-Star baseball game in history at Muny Stadium.

A disappointing crowd announced at 1,272 turned out for the game to see the league’s best, but not all of the stars were out on this clear, hot and humid summer night.

Conspicuous by his absence was Cedar Rapids outfielder Link Curtis, last year’s home run champion and author of 10 round trippers already this season. Curtis was slated to start in right field for the North team, composed of players from Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Dubuque, Fox Cities and Wisconsin Rapids, Curtis didn’t show.

The three other Raider All-Stars and manager Rollie Hemsley were on hand and all but relief acre Jim Garbeff saw action. Hemleys coached the entire game at first base. Outfielder Dick Rowe played the entire game in center but failed to get a hit in four trips. Billy Jack Stinchcomb, lanky right-hander, hurled 1 1/3 innings and fanned three, allowing only one infield hit.

Curtis, when reached at home by phone about 7 p.m. – half hour before the game was to start related the following excuse;

“We were supposed to meet at the (C.R.) ballpark at 4 o’clock to leave for Davenport. Jack Hutchinson (Raider’s first baseman) and I went for a ride in Jack’s car. We were driving around Lake Macbride and ran out of gas. By the time we got back they had already left.”

When asked why Hutchinson didn’t drive him down after the gassed up, Curtis said, “He had a date for Sunday night.” Dubuque’s Joe Taormina replaced Curtis in the North outfield and was one for three at the plate.

The North jumped off to a 3-0 lead with two runs in the second and one in the third. Waterloo’s Bob Montgomery accounted for all three runs with a long homer over the left field fence in the second with hawk teammate Al Montreuil on board and a double in the third with Fox Cities’ Dave May board.

Both May and Montreuil had got on with singles. Taormina’s hit followed Montgomery’s clout in the second and those were the only North safeties until shortstop Dave Nelson of Dubuque singled in the ninth with one out. he died on second.

The South scored twice in the third inning on a singles by Euesbo Rosas of Burlington and a homer by Quincy’s Bob Iglesias. The South wrapped it up by scoring four in the fourth, three unearned, as 10 hitters paraded to the plate.

There were four hits in the inning, the big one being a double by Decatur’s Bob Marshall. It was following Marshall’s double that the weirdest play of the game occurred. Pinch hitter Jim Sollami walked and the fourth ball delivered was a wild pitch. catcher Bob Montgomery couldn’t find the ball and Marshall came all the way around to score. When Montgomery did find the ball he threw wildly to second and Sollami went all the way to third.

Waterloo’s Luis Pelliot made his first pitching start as a professional when he drew the assignment for the North team. Pelliot has a 6-1 record for the Hawks, all in relief.

Righthander Lester Mundel of the Quad Cities was awarded the victory. he pitched the last three innings and didn’t allow a hit while fanning six North stars. Dick Peterson, the only Wisconsin Rapids player to make the All-Star team, was the losing pitcher for the North. Peterson, a left-hander was touched for only one hit, Marshall’s double. He was a victim of three unearned runs out of the four scored on him but an error he committed himself by fumbling a sacrifice bunt in the fatal fourth contributed to his downfall.

Cedar Rapids pitcher Billy Stinchcomb may have found out here Sunday night that if his career as a baseball player ever falters he may have a future as a baseball clown. Billy assisted Johnny Johnson in his routine before the game and proved most capable. He was exceptionally adept at playing in a pantomime routine, the role of a manager pulling out a pitcher after he had been shelled.

Waterloo’s Montgomery, who drove in all the North runs, had a couple of “passed balls” in Saturday night’s game at Burlington. Waterloo Courier Sports Editor Bob Herdien reports that after Montgomery had been called out on strikes for the second time, a couple of pitches “got by him” in the next inning and caught plate umpire amidships.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels closed out the first half with a four game winning streak. Three Kernels were selected to attend the 2012 Midwest League All-Star game that will be held on Tuesday night at Kane County. Kaleb Cowart, Ty Kelley and Stephen Tromblee will represent the West squad and the Kernels at the event. As our other players get a few days off, I will be writing / transcribing a few All-Star stories from our past.

Our second All-Star installment for today is the 1981 Midwest League All-Star game that was held on June 20, 1981. Cedar Rapids played host and brought in the San Diego Chicken as part of the evening’s entertainment. I actually worked an internship for The Famous Chicken for the better part of a summer traveling the country in his “Rock Star” bus.

The North squad built a 4-0 lead but the South squad battles back to tie the game. It was knotted up at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth when Jeff Jones came through with a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to win the game 5-4. Five of Cedar Rapids representatives played in the game. Brad Lesley was held out of action as he was promoted to AA Waterbury.

Here is the coverage from the June 21, 1981 edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette written by Mark Dukes.

South Wins in bottom of 9th

If he’s looking for a more dramatic act, the San Diego Chicken might want to track down the guy who wrote the script for Saturday night’s Midwest League all-star baseball game.

The Chicken delighted an estimated crowd of 3,100 fans at Memorial Stadium until the seventh inning with a variety of skits, then went outside the main gate to oblige hundreds of autograph seekers.

But the late-inning drama was reserved for the all-stars – and the crowning touch came from Jeff Jones of the Cedar Rapids Reds. With one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Jones lofted a long fly ball to right field that easily scored Henry Cotto of Quad City, giving the Southern Division a 5-4 win over the Northern Division.

Cotto started the inning with a double and went to third on a ground out. The North manager Bill Plummer of Wausau elected to intentionally walk Burlington’s Murphy Su’a and Carlos Ponce to load the bases.

Jones slammed the first pitch, a fastball, from Wausau’s Tom Brennan for the game-winner. “I was shocked to see them walk the bases full,” Jones said. “When they did, I knew he had to throw me strikes. I liked the chance, because I didn’t come through in the seventh.”

In the seventh with the score tied, 4-4, Jones struck out with two outs and the bases loaded. “It seems so easy one time and so hard the next,” he said. “We could have used another run last night (Friday, when the Reds lost the first half finale 3-2 to Clinton). Actually, in the ninth inning, I was still mad about The Chicken attacking my girlfriend (Lynn Garvey).”

Jones was jesting about being upset with The Chicken, who pulled Garvey atop the dugout at one point as part of his act. The Chicken, in the person of Ted Giannoulis, captured the crowd’s attention by: soliciting cheers for both teams, dancing creatively to western and rock music, having a mock argument with home plate umpire Ray Kluever, Wading through the stands to shake hands with kids, and among other things, displaying his version of the way to run the bases.

The North team, led by 10 members of first half champion Wausau, looked as if it might turn the game into a rout during the first four innings. The North scored one run in each of the first four innings, slapping 11 hits off start Scot Ender of Cedar Rapids and reliever Tom Smith of Quad City.

But over the final four innings, Clinton’s Greg Bangert and Quad City’s Jim Gerlach yielded just one hit and retired 14 of the last 16 North batters, the final seven in a row.

Cedar Rapids all-stars contributed amply to the South attack. Designated hitter Emil Drzayich singled home a run in the two-run fourth inning, center fielder Ken Scarpace cut the South deficit to 4-3 in the fifth with a RBI single, and Jones tied it in the sixth with a run scoring double. Catcher Ray Corbett also singled in three at bats.

“It was a great game for the Reds and a helluva game and a lot of fun for everyone else,” said South manager Randy Davidson of Cedar Rapids. “It’s a good thing we won in the ninth, because it was agreed the game would be called after nine innings since we were running out of pitchers.”

The North got run-scoring singles from Wausau’s Kevin King in the first, Jim Eisenreich of Wisconsin Rapids in the second and Wausau’s Enrique Diaz in the third. Harold Reynolds of Wausau tallied in the fourth on a passed ball.

Cedar Rapids star relief pitcher Brad Lesley was one of five South pitchers who did not see action. part of the reason was that Lesley has been promoted to Class AA Waterbury (Conn.) and was scheduled to leave today. he posted a 4-1 record, 12 saves and 0.80 earned run average during the first half to help the Reds tie for the championship.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels closed out the first half with a four game winning streak. Three Kernels were selected to attend the 2012 Midwest League All-Star game that will be held on Tuesday night at Kane County. Kaleb Cowart, Ty Kelley and Stephen Tromblee will represent the West squad and the Kernels at the event. As our other players get a few days off, I will be writing / transcribing a few All-Star stories from our past.

We start today with the 1949 Central Association All-Star game that was held on July 13, 1949. Cedar Rapids hosted the event during the inaugural season at Veterans Memorial Stadium during our first season of professional baseball following World War 2. Cedar Rapids did not field a team from 1943-1948. Packy Rogers was selected to manage the North squad in the game. Six Cedar Rapids Rockets were selected to attend the event. Del Marquardt, Roger Scoles, and Jack Tanner were selected as starters while Lou Michels, Lou Percy, and Gene Schroer made the squad as reserves.

The South squad would defeat the North 13-4. Roger Scoles, the starting shortstop for the North, was selected as the fan’s choice as the most valuable player. Scoles handled five putouts and had five assists while going 1-4 at the plate. The voting done in the stands favored Cedar Rapids players with a Rockets player appearing on more than half of the ballots. Jack Tanner was 1-4 with a HR in the game. Del Marquardt started at catcher and went 1-2 with a double.

Here is the coverage from the July 14, 1949 edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette written by Pat Harmon.

Favored South Wins All-Star Tilt, 13-4

Jack Tanner and Wopinek Hit Homers

Them That has gits. This stunning phrase, applied by a Civil War general 85 years ago, was appropriate again Wednesday night, when North and South met in another internecine challenge at Memorial Stadium. The South all-stars had seven of the leading batters of the Central Association, five of the eight top pitchers, and all the first division teams. The North had what was left.

So the South won. Natch. The score was 13-4 and all the talent ran true to form. Even 2,298 spectators were performing in regular season style. They booed the umpires when the came onto the field. Even Packy Rogers of Cedar Rapids, the resident genius of the North strategy cabinet, was in customary tongue. He inquired dramatically of umpire Red Mackay’s final decision and then walked a few paces with the arbiter, arm in arm, laughing.

Walt Wenclewicz, the 6-foot 5-inch Kewanee tower who had shown Cedar Rapids fans so much in two games here last saturday and Sunday, was the winning pitcher. he worked three innings and had a 5-1 lead when he turned the game over to Wallie Rush, the 17 year old pitching prodigy from Burlington.

Gene Schroer of Cedar Rapids, who has won six and lost one to become of of the leading light of Northern pitchers, was tapped for a 4-1 portion of that deficit. Since the North never caught up, he fell heir to the role of losing pitcher.

Picking a towering star out of the field of all-stars would be difficult. Wenclewicz was just as he had looked here last week – almost untouchable. John Poliak of Rockford was the only man to get three hits, but there were eight others who got two. Some of them might have had more if the had not retired to let other performers take their turn.

George Wopinek of Keokuk hit a home run with none aboard for the South in the seventh inning. Jack Tanner of Cedar Rapids came to bat for the North in the eighth with one on base and hit perhaps his longest home run of the year. The Central Association homre run leader popped the ball clear over the outer fence in left center field.

Even among these top notchers, the best in the league , the fielding ace was a rookie shortstop from Cedar Rapids who celebrated his 18th birthday a week ago – Roger Scoles from Ute, IA. He handled five putouts and five assists and knocked down three other balls on which he couldn’t throw the man out at first but which kept from becoming more dangerous hits.

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